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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Absolutely amazing stuff...., May 7, 2000
This album sees Therion putting together something of a "smorgasbord" of the bands talents and personal tastes. The album starts with 4 tracks of the now famous melodic metal filled with soprano, alto, tenor and bass vocals by a variety of males & females, as well as the token choirs. Therion could not have possibly done this any better if they tried. The guitars are seamless, and the keys lend a certain mystical feeling to the music. The songs are fairly down-tempo, leaving the later songs to pick up the speed. "Clavicula Nox" is a nearly 9 minute long epic of varied instrumentation. It features a bass solo (bass meaning vocals), along with violins, violas and cellos (in there somewhere!). After this, we come to the worship section. Therion decide to pay homage to their favorite power/trad metal bands. For the first two, they have enlisted the extreme vocal talents of none other than Ralf Scheepers (Gamma Ray/Primal Fear among many!). The first song, "Crazy Nights" was originally done by Loudness and is a real anthemic mosh about "rocking and rolling" and "seeing the show" and "getting on your seat". This is a pretty good song, but pales in comparison to the next one. This is a song called Thor which was originally done by Manowar. This has got to be one of the most uplifting songs I have heard to date: it just makes you want to bang your head or do something else completely ridiculous. The choirs send up a soaring melody and Ralf's pants are extra extra tight to allow him to hit the "mega-high" notes. The drumming is one of the most intricate and unique patterns I've ever heard, and the guitar solo towards the end of the song done by Christoffer Johnsson is something made in heaven (in my opinion he outshines Trey Azagthoth). The final cover is entitled Seawinds and was originally done by Accept. It is a completely slow pace song entirely comprising of female vocals performed by none other than Sarah Jezibel Deva (ex-Cradle of Filth). This song belongs more on a Britney Spears (or something) album than a Therion one, but it is still brilliant! To round off the album there are three live tracks, one of which is the stunning To Mega Therion. They still manage to pull off the choir caper perfectly on stage. Full credit to them! This is an extremely well rounded album, and has allowed me to appreciate some more esoteric forms of metal. I cannot find a single thing wrong with it, thus I recommend highly.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
It has all, December 4, 2001
This is a very good album. It has all. 3 very well done covers, 3 incredible live versions, 1 re-edition and 3 master pieces of art; the 3 new songs. The 3 new songs are very similar to the Vovin album, an excelent instrumentation singed with lirycal and operal choirs. The covers show a bit of this metal group influences and an interesting face of the group; the song Sea Winds (originally from Accept)is incredibly well done and Thor (originally from Manowar, also played by Centurión) brings the soul of metal, also Crazy Nights showing Therion version of the roots of Heavy Metal. The more interesting thing on the album is the 3 songs on live versions: To Mega Therion, from the teli album, with interesting drums arrengerments and some choir arrengements too. There is also The Wings of Hydra, wich brings us to earlier days of the band, a Death metal song from the Lepaka, where C. J. was still the principal vocal. The last song is Black Sun from the Vovin. All live songs shows the great performance of the group on the VOVIN TOUR and are the only register of the Group playing alive. (Almost played as in the original records) The re-edition song is also from the album VOVIN; the title: Clavicula Nox. This redition introduces a piano playing along the song and on the intro, very good arrengement; but more interesting yet is the solos of the vocals. The song is originally singed by a female soprano, but in this reedition the lirics are singed by a male Tenor at first (in a SOLO) and then by a Bajo. Very enjoyable CD and very complete. A Perfect resume of the music purpose of this great symphonic metal Band.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent "EP" to tide you over., July 22, 1999
By A Customer
This "EP" clocks in at over 50 minutes, making it well worth your money. The new songs are very well done, and return a bit more to the 'Theli' style, in that they are more guitar-oriented than 'Vovin' tunes. The covers are also well done, with Ralf Scheeper's doing a fine job handling the vocals. A great cover of Manowar's "Thor" is worth the price alone, to me. This "EP" is for definately for Therion fans, and I wouldn't recommend it as an introduction to the band. I can't wait for the new album.
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